Why You Need a LinkedIn Company Page: New Status Updates

If you are a business professional who is not currently using LinkedIn, it’s time to create an account. This social media powerhouse currently has 120 million members worldwide, which includes executives from every 500 Fortune Company.  LinkedIn is a great tool to connect and build relationships with business professionals inside and outside of your industry. Once you begin using LinkedIn as a networking tool, you can expect to see an increase in productivity and success for your company.

Labor Day Special: Why You Need Social Media for Holiday Sales

Happy Labor Day everyone! We hope you are enjoying your Monday off. Labor Day, like all other federal holidays, is a very important day for marketers worldwide. Why, you ask? Because this is a day where online sales skyrocket and shopping centers are packed. Customers are out and about, and they’re looking for sales. With so many stores, sites and sales to choose from, how are they going to find out about yours? That’s where social media comes in.

Social Media Spotlight: Temptations Cafe

For this week’s Social Media Spotlight, we are proud to introduce Temptations Cafe! Temptations Cafe is a family run business with 3 locations in Boston and Brookline, MA. They specialize in gourmet sandwiches, salads, and soups, as well as locally roasted artisan coffees and tea. Their mission is to always provide their guests with the freshest food and excellent service in a timely manner.  As a Northeastern student, I was always in and out of their cafe, whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Temptations Cafe has a great atmosphere and awesome food! Let’s see what Lou Lutfi has to say about using social media to promote their locations…

How to Calculate the ROI of Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Being able to calculate the ROI of a company’s social media initiatives has been a big debate within the industry. What is social media ROI? How do you know if your sales are stemming from sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or your blogs? These are questions that keep many businesses on the fence of starting to use social media for marketing practices. Of course, there are returns that are not necessarily financial, but let’s face it; all Chief Marketing Officers need to see what will happen to their bottom-line figures. Today, we will take a more in depth look at how marketing executives should be measuring their ROI.

The first step in the ROI measurement process is to form a social media marketing plan that directly correlates to all corporate and branding strategies, without only focusing on the ROI. This means, figure out what your strategic priorities are. Do you want your social media marketing to increase traffic to your sites, improve brand awareness, or improve your search rankings? Do you want to see lead generations or are you planning on using social media as another form of customer service? There are different ways to measure the ROI depending on the strategies you choose. For example, using social media for customer service reduces costs associated with that department, which in turn increases the financial value of your strategy. Refer back to last Monday’s article to see how that is done correctly.

Social Media Spotlight: Welch’s

Today, our Social Media Spotlight will focus on the well-known, family favorite brand, Welch’s. Welch’s has been in the grape business since 1869, and offers a variety of 100% grape juices. Their product line also consists of other 100% juices, sparkling beverages, juice cocktails, concentrates, jams, jellies, and snacks. Welch’s is currently the world’s leading marketer of Concord and Niagara-based grape products. Let’s find out how such an established company uses social media marketing to its benefit. Erika Jubinville gives us the inside scoop on their social strategy.

How To Use Social Media to Build Your Email Contact List

We all know that social media marketing is effective in promoting your products and services, creating a buzz around your brand, and tapping into your consumer market. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all great promotional platforms, but did you ever think of how you could use such sites for purposes outside of the social media world? Learn how you can turn your social media following into valuable email contacts for your company…

Social Media Spotlight: Send the Trend

The Social Media Spotlight is pleased to introduce a company that should be recognized by all fashionable consumers: Send the Trend. Send the Trend is a monthly membership accessories service created by Christian Siriano, Mariah Chase and Divya Gugnani. Once you have become a member, you will receive a customized accessory gallery based on a personal style survey. Once a month, you have the option to purchase new accessories for your collection. Send the Trend is in on trend whether you’re in need of some new sunglasses, an amazing scarf, earrings, bracelets, a statement necklace, rings, bangles or all the above. Kaitlin, the Social Media Manager, gave us some useful insight on how Send the Trend uses social sites to build and promote this e-commerce business.

Social Media Spotlight: Just Jamie Scarves

Today, Progressive Media Concepts will embark on a new blogging concept – a Social Media Spotlight that focuses on businesses who currently use social media and how their marketing strategies are helping to build their brand. We want to give our readers an inside, real-life view of how companies can grow their business, increase sales, and enhance consumer engagement. It’s very simple to sit here and write about all the benefits social media holds for companies in general, but by giving you an actual example of a business that is prospering through Facebook or Twitter will make our case stronger. Our readers can expect to find these kinds of company spotlights every Wednesday from here on out, and if you would like to be interviewed, please do not hesitate to ask. So let’s start our Social Media Spotlight with an awesome entrepreneur, Jamie Futterman from Just Jamie Scarves.

Just Jamie Scarves was launched in August of 2010 when Jamie saw an opportunity in the marketplace to sell scarves and other accessories. She has been using social media to promote her business since day 1, with her WordPress blog, Facebook and Twitter driving much of her product information to her consumers. Currently, Jamie has an e-commerce website (which she created single-handedly) but still uses social media in her daily business activities. To get a better idea of how social media has benefitted her company, we asked her a few questions.

Foursquare Day: A Social Media Holiday

By now, we have all seen the power social media has in regards to businesses, advertising, building personal connections, and even how it affects governments worldwide.

But on April 16th, social media has something else in store for us… a global social media holiday. Foursquare Day was started by Nate Bonilla-Warford, who figured it would be a cool concept for everyone to check into Foursquare on the 4th 16th of the year… better known as four squared. His idea spread quickly over Facebook and Twitter, and on April 16th of last year, the first Foursquare Day was celebrated. As we prepare to celebrate this new-era holiday on Saturday, it is important to understand what this day is all about.